Seymour Duncan SH-10 Full Shred – Demo and Review

I often feel that the Full Shred is the unsung hero in the Seymour Duncan line-up. Seldom
mentioned, often overlooked. I’m guilty of this myself, having used practically every moderate-to-
high output pickup from the brand, but never considering this one as an option.

The SH-10 is a unique humbucker for sure. For a start, it’s name is perhaps a touch misleading. If
you’re expecting a hot, screamy, explosive and harmonically rich pickup, you’re likely to be
disappointed. Instead you’ll find it to be a refined, moderate, neutral and balanced humbucker,
capable of much more than just shred.

It’s also incredibly tight. Not tight in a compressed way, but in the sense that it has little-to-no low
end. It’s very rolled-off, but it’s neutral/flat response prevents it from becoming thin. This is where
the Full Shred truly excels, as it allows you to put your guitar through an ungodly amount of
distortion without the tone becoming hairy, woolly, and flubby.

It’s here that the pickup’s name starts to make sense again. The clarity of your tone simply won’t get
buried under heavy processing, be it effects or distortion, making it the perfect lead player’s pickup. The moderate output makes it a very expressive humbucker too, allowing you to pull back or dig in with your pick for a really dynamic playing experience.

To demo this pickup, I chose to write a track which wasn’t too heavy, aggressive, or complicated, to showcase its balanced tone. However, I do highly recommend the SH-10 for low tuned situations, where big strings and even bigger frequencies are fighting you every step of the way for a clear tone under heavy distortion.